Helmet Of Salvation Series

HELMET OF SALVATION

Ephesians 6

Intro: Maginot Line (I will draw this up on the board as an opener)

At the beginning of world war II, France believed that they were safe against Germany behind the Maginot line. The Maginot line was a defensive line built in the 1930’s. It stretched for over 200 miles on the NE border of France. It was state-of-the-art, built of thick concrete with heavy guns, living quarters, store houses and underground rail lines. It was designed to hold off any German attack. The Germans however defeated this fortified defense by simply going around it through the Ardennes forest, which the French considered impenetrable. By using superior aircraft and armored tank divisions, something the French were not prepared for, the German army overcame this defensive line simply by avoiding it. In the end, the maginot line was useless and France surrendered to the enemy. France fell in defeat because they underestimated their enemy and relied on the wrong weapons. They did not anticipate the attack their

enemy used.

BIBLE VERSE: Ephesians 6:10-17

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Transition: Tonight we are going to focus on one aspect (yup, only one aspect, imagine us taking only small steps, are you surprised?). And the aspect we are going to take is called the helmet of salvation.

General Definition: The simplest of all applications here, is that you have to have salvation if you are going to battle the enemy. No offense here, but if you are not saved, there is no point in going any further in the study about the armor of God if someone here is not saved.

As for the believer, there is a spiritual power in the knowledge of being saved. The devil should not be allowed to trick a true believer out of their salvation, should not be allowed to make someone doubt their own walk with the Lord (leaders, many young people have the devil questioning their salvation often, when those questions pop up in the mind, I have traditionally taught Christ followers merely to confirm their salvation with a “thank you Jesus for saving me” and those thoughts tend to go away).

So What is the Purpose of a Helmet?

The purpose of a helmet is for protection. When we ride bikes, a helmet protects us when we crash. When we ride motorcycles, a helmet protects us from ending our life. A soldiers’ helmet is worn for even a more obvious reason, though I was joking a bit about the motorcycle rider, wearing a helmet is no joke to a soldier in battle (even more so back in the days when Jesus walked…in the age of swords and daggers, one could expect to have a shot taken to their head in almost every battle).

What About our Mind?

Well, what good is a person once they’ve lost their mind (don’t answer that aloud)? Now I am not trying to be critical of anyone with a mental deficiency caused over the course of time, so please don’t read into it. But I stand before you as a 39 year old that knows of some people who seem to have completely lost all sense of reality when it comes to their own decisions. I just happen to think that some people make awful decisions.

When it comes to the spiritual world, the Devil doesn’t really need to put us in a hospital or hit us with a car. All the Devil really has to do to win over us is to get us to doubt! And that involves a heavy attack on our mind. Cause a destruction in someone’s faith…and they could be done!

A few months ago, I had a fellow believer now overseas with the military ask me if I’d seen a certain movie (for the life of me I can’t remember it now). I told him that I had not, but he said that it had really shaken his faith. He asked me if I would see it and I told him no. Why not he asked, was I afraid of also having my faith shaken? No. Here is my answer and will be my answer for anything like this in the near future. “No my friend, that movie will not shake my faith…because I am not a wienie.” My friend had a good laugh and moved on to bigger things.